The 12th China City Air Quality Management Workshop, organized by the Foreign Economic Cooperation Office of the Ministry of Environmental Protection (FECO-MEP) and Clean Air Asia and co-organized by Chengdu Environmental Protection Bureau (Chengdu EPB) in Chengdu from November 15-16, introduced a science-based policy-making mechanism for cities to meet the 2017 air quality targets required by the Air Pollution Control and Prevention Action Plan.